Simoncini Vineyard

A small vineyard tucked into the hills west of Dry Creek Valley, the Simoncini Vineyard is the result of a collaboration between Ulises and Ken Simoncini. The goal was to create a vineyard modeled after the Dry Creek Zinfandel vineyards of old. Budwood was taken from the 100 year old St. Peters' Vineyard (also the source of the Rockpile Road Vineyard and Lancel Creek Vineyard budwood), and was grafted on to St. George rootstock. A bit of Petit Sirah was added as well, a frequent component of the field blends of days past.

The vines were planted in 2003, and the first crop was harvested in 2005. The grapes reached all the maturity and ripeness needed to produce a big, extracted Zinfandel reminiscent of the St. Peter's Church Vineyard. So much so, in fact, Ulises and consulting winemaker Paul Hobbs decided to make the wine in Late Harvest style. The wine will be released Spring 2007. The 2006 was another excellent harvest, and as the vineyard matures, the expectation is to have enough production for small lots of both late harvest, and table wine.